Environmental Unsustainability Research Articles

Climate Change Challenges on Environmental and Sustainable Development

The environmental unsustainability becomes constantly aggressive Globally and that causes threats to human life and nature in general. Climate change consists of multivariant like storms, heatwaves, floods, and earthquakes and all these are caused by human pollution to the environment. Recently, the Eastern Africa in 2024 April was severely attack by the floods where humanitarian were the casualties. In Kenya over 300 people were reported dead while in Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and Sudan was also very high number of fatalities. People lost their homes and belongings, while agricultural damages were also very severe and that resulted in food shortages. South Africa and Brazil were also affected by the floods which killed and caused damages. The KwaZulu-Natal floods were so strong where 139 Schools were destroyed and both industrial and residential were demolished. The purpose of this article is to identify the causes of climate change and how to ensure environmental sustainability to eradicate this threat. The most affected population in African countries are the rural villages as they don’t have quality household structures and infrastructures. Commonly, no household in rural villages is registered with the Deeds office in South Africa and again, they are not insured against natural disasters of this nature. There no such a thing of stormwater facilities and engineers in the rural villages. The methodology followed in this article is a pure reliable literature review analysis. The research employed non empirical research by deeply focusing on theoretical systematic and thematic analysis of literature. The findings of this research will contribute significantly to addressing the cause of aggressive climate change and to provide solution to sustainable rural villages living environment.

Competence in Unsustainability Resolution—A New Paradigm

Environmental unsustainability in coupled human–nature systems is accumulating. Yet, there is no accreditation requirement for unsustainability resolution competency in higher education. Thus, a new and complete representation of the pedagogy for unsustainability resolution competence has been induced, using what is already available and working. The nature of unsustainability problems points to collaboration and holism attitudes. Resolution requires social skills, namely participation, perspective taking, and the generation of social capital, and cognitive skills, namely project management, knowledge building, and modeling. Resolution is scaffolded in three successive steps during the collaborative process within a systems approach: (i) collapse complexity; (ii) select a path/trajectory; and (iii) operationalize a plan. The hierarchically cumulative abilities toward unsustainability resolution competence are to source data and information about the coupled human–nature system (SEARCH); simplify the dynamics of the human–nature system (SIMULATE); generate and test alternative paths and end points for the coupled human–nature system (STRATEGIZE); chose a favorable path among the available alternatives (SELECT); operationalize the favorable path into a plan (strategy–program–project) with measurable management and policy objectives (IMPLEMENT); and develop criteria/indicators to monitor and adjust when necessary the implementation of the plan toward system goals (STEER). For each one of these learning objectives, the Bloom’s taxonomy and a progression from behaviorist through cognitivist to constructivist tools apply. The development of mastery requires the comparison and contrast of many similar cases with the same unsustainability problem and project-based learning with specific cases for deep learning. In this way, it is the resolutions of unsustainability in human–nature systems that will be accumulating.

Elementary Teacher Candidates’ Views of Children’s Literature on Climate Change

In today’s elementary classrooms, students face an uncertain future, standing to inherit a world characterized by environmental unsustainability. Therefore, elementary teachers must educate their students on anthropogenic climate change to increase the likelihood that future generations will mitigate its risks. This article documents the perspectives on children’s literature depicting climate change held by 27 Teacher Candidates in a conservative, oil-producing region of a U.S. state. The results show a low likelihood of participants self-censoring the topic of climate change compared with other frequently censored topics (i.e., gender, sexuality, and race). However, they report accepting others’ views on climate change even when those views contradict settled climate science. This implies a need for more directed preparation for elementary teachers to actively negotiate with their students to ensure they develop research-aligned perspectives on climate change.

Regeneration diagnosis for the service lifespans of residential buildings on a circular economy perspective

As urbanized areas progress into the era of stock, an immense number of existing residential buildings (RBs) are destined to undergo replacement and renovation. The irrational decision of urban renewal led to serious economic waste and environmental unsustainability. In this regard, this study proposes and validates a method for regeneration diagnosis and optimal regeneration of RBs based on circular economy (CE) theory. A hybrid diagnostic tool of life cycle cost (LCC)-life cycle assessment (LCA) model to systematically evaluate the economic and environmental impact of RBs throughout the circular lifecycle was proposed. On this basis, with the minimum average annual economic and environmental impact as the objective function, the optimal dynamic regeneration cycle of RBs is obtained using a multi-objective optimization method. The results of the case study show that: (1) The discount rate and deterioration rate changes the development tendency of economic and environmental data, which brings a new regenerating time point, (2) the economic impact of RBs’ regeneration tends to be more pronounced during the intermediate stages, while the environmental impact becomes more significant in the later stages, (3) the environmental benefits of regeneration outweigh the economic benefits, (4) the regeneration of all building elements at the local optimal level leads to enhanced comprehensive benefits compared to multiple regenerations of a single building element. The feasibility of the method employed in this study has been corroborated by practical case studies. This approach transcends the limitations of quantitative analysis in assessing the regeneration of RBs in a circular lifecycle and offers profound implications for the development of urban renewal and sustainable strategies.

The Role of the Environmental Engineers in Environmental Sustainability

Environmental degradation has been caused by human activities in order to achieve his developmental needs. This paper examines the role of professionals and professional organizations in environmental sustainability; with specific attention to the role of the environmental engineers in environmental sustainability. Examination of environmental engineering and the environmental engineer was made; some human activities and their consequences on the environment which lead to environmental unsustainability were explained. Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The environmental engineer remains the vehicle to bring about environmental sustainability by some of the following ways; devising and promoting concepts of eco-design and resource efficiency, delivering solutions for corporate and regional sustainability and low carbon economy; improving ways of assessing and treating contamination at polluted sites; devising recycling systems and developing uses for recycled materials, and reducing the volumes of solid and hazardous waste through conservation.

Agricultural crisis, refugee crisis, or health crisis? Migrant seasonal workers in Italian agriculture during the COVID pandemic

AbstractThe concept of crisis has been widely used to describe European social phenomena which have become acute and unmanageable in recent years. Exceptionality and emergency have become attributes of the political strategies developed to address the economic, social, and environmental unsustainability of industrial farming; the flow of forced migrants; and the COVID‐19 pandemic. This article is based on ethnographic data collected over more than 2 years among immigrant workers and their employers in northern Italy, before and during the spread of the pandemic. By relating the experience of the people involved and analysis of the structural dimensions, I show how the “refugeeization of the agricultural workforce” and the “normalization of precarity” are two interconnected and interdependent processes. My study contributes to the recent scientific debate on the “polycrisis” by highlighting how the agricultural crisis generated a demand for vulnerable migrant labour and this situation was exacerbated by the health crisis.

Environmental Unsustainability in Cartagena Bay (Colombia): A Sentinel-3B OLCI Satellite Data Analysis and Terrestrial Nanoparticle Quantification

Environmental Unsustainability in Cartagena Bay (Colombia): A Sentinel-3B OLCI Satellite Data Analysis and Terrestrial Nanoparticle Quantification

Ecological boundaries and their regional exceedance in China

Planetary boundaries have received considerable attention since they were first proposed, but applying various downscaling methods to the regional scale has certain limitations due to regional heterogeneity. The concept of ecological boundaries (EB) extends and complements planetary boundaries at a regional scale. However, previous studies have not considered the EB of multiple regions and the impact of interregional ecosystem service value (ESV) flows on EB. In this study, we optimized the EB accounting method and quantified the EB of 30 provinces in China from 2002 to 2017, then assessed the ecosystem unsustainability, and determined the impact of demand for goods and services on the consumption of local natural resources by each province in China using an ESV-extended multiregional input-output model. We found that EB increased in all provinces of China. The ecological unsustainability index of all 30 provinces was larger than 1, indicating a serious environmental unsustainability, but the magnitude of the index tends to decrease. Furthermore, the regions that have the greatest impact on exceeding EB in each province were concentrated in Guangdong and Henan. Guangdong had the highest total net imports in 2012 and 2015 (665.08 and 641.70 billion yuan, respectively), while Henan had the highest total net imports in 2017 (611.58 billion yuan). For the role of net exports, the rankings of the provinces differed in terms of the direct ESV and the boundary-exceeding ESV indicators. Our results reveal EB across provinces in China, underscoring the importance of considering the flow of ESV between regions in assessing the impact of exceeding EB. This study can assist policymakers in better allocating ecological resources within EB, which is critical for alleviating ecological pressures.

Design and validation of the perception of risk towards environmental unsustainability scale (PREUS)

AbstractNo validated scales are available to assess the perception of risk towards environmental unsustainability (PREU), which is a key construct for the adoption of sustainable behaviors. To fill this literature gap, the objective of this study was to develop and validate the PREU scale (PREUS). To this end, a total of 519 Spanish participants answered a survey composed of the PREUS and other psychosocial variables. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses ratify the bifactorial structure of the scale. The two factors refer to perceived risk to oneself and one’s own family (anthropocentric view of risk), and risk for the planet (ecocentric view), respectively. The structural equation modelling analyses confirmed (1) the expected relationships between both factors and other constructs of their nomological network, and (2) the mediating role of the ascription of responsibility in the relationship established between risk perception and sustainable behavior, offering empirical support for the external validity of the scale. Finally, both metric and scalar gender invariance were granted and, as expected, women showed higher PREU than men. The study provides a brief, easy-to-complete, reliable, valid, and sex-invariant instrument that can be useful for researchers and educators to assess the extent to which individuals perceive the risk that environmental unsustainability can pose.

A review of technoeconomic benefits of torrefaction pretreatment technology and application in torrefying sawdust

Economic analysis of torrefaction process centers on assessment of the economic feasibility of the production and utilization of torrefied biomass using developed models such as costs of biomass, electricity, labour, investment, transportation etc. to evaluate the cost of biomass torrefaction. The increase in energy usage over the past century has raised concern over the energy insecurity and environmental unsustainability of current fossil fuel utilization; therefore, there is need for energy diversification. An attractive alternative is the biomass. However, the poor performance of raw biomass in energy generation further necessitate development of refined technologies to enhance its performance, particularly at low temperatures between 200–300 ℃. This study therefore reviews the technoeconomic benefits of torrefaction technology and reactors and its application in the pretreatment of sawdust. An overview of torrefaction technology, torrefied product characteristics, and economic analysis of torrefier reactor and torrefaction cost/ton were reviewed. From the review, torrefaction significantly improved the physical, combustion and performance characteristics of torrefied products, with comparable durability and storability to raw biomass. Comparing with other thermal pretreatment methods, torrefaction is an economical way of improving biomass properties.

Cryptoart: ethical challenges of the NFT revolution

The digital transformation of the art world has become a revolution for the sector. Cryptoart, based on non-fungible tokens (NFT), is attracting the attention of artists, collectors and enthusiasts for its ability to tokenise any element that can be sold as art in the digital market. In this way, it is able to become a scarce resource and an economic asset by encapsulating the market value of a piece of digital art, which may or may not have a reference in the real world. This study will delve into the ethical aspects underlying what is known as the NFT Revolution, particularly impacts related to the abuse or destruction of cultural heritage, speculation and the generation of economic bubbles and environmental unsustainability. To this end, this research has been carried out within the framework of a hermeneutic-critical proposal for analysing, understanding and prescribing cryptoart and its processes. This, methodology, typical of the human and social sciences, critically analyses the current context of the digital transformation of art through the study and interpretation of bibliographical sources and case studies in order to reconstruct the keys and conditions of possibility that guide its development in a fair and responsible way.

Holistic implementations of green supply chain management practices in Thai entrepreneurial ventures

PurposeTo critically examine the holistic implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in entrepreneurial ventures in Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThe study observed 121 organizations (or respondents) covering 13 industries from both the public and private sectors. The research process started with a semi-structured interview and observation, followed by focus group interviews. The data collected were then analyzed using content and thematic analysis methods.FindingsRespondents (chiefly entrepreneurial ventures) have good eco-knowledge. Most have more than 3–10 years of experience implementing eco practices that have significantly reduced their eco-impacts and costs. The study also revealed that firms’ directors developed environmental management systems (EMS) and cultures of their firms. This study rejected previously held beliefs that factors including country, firm size, industry type, years of activity and certification, impact both positively and negatively on green performance. However, the influence of top management, green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO), respondents’ different perceptions of the GSCM boundary and the COVID-19 pandemic have impacted the success of GSCM’s implementation.Research limitations/implicationsThe COVID-19 pandemic obstructed observing GSCM implementation at the respondents’ workplaces. This could reduce the validity of the research, as all evidence obtained was selectively provided by the respondents, not the researchers.Practical implicationsNew practitioners are encouraged to focus on green logistics (GL) at a firm level as opposed to the broader supply chain. Effective GL practices recommended utilities usage reduction, reuse/recycle waste and green procurement.Originality/valueGSCM researchers should focus on patterns of over-consumption, over-trading and relevant institutions that cause environmental unsustainability, rather than specific units in supply chains. The Buddhist sustainable sufficiency concept should be considered as a viable lens to analyze GSCM as it complements existing theories.

The effects of comprehensive competence‐based training on competence development and performance improvement of smallholder farmers: An Ethiopian case study

AbstractLow yield/hectare gains, food insecurity and environmental unsustainability are challenges experienced by the agriculture sector in Ethiopia despite substantial government investment. Although there are many factors that contribute to the poor performance of the sector, smallholder farmer competence gaps are principal among them. This study aims to examine the effects of Comprehensive Competence‐Based Training (CCBT) on the competence development and performance improvement of smallholder farmers using the authentic professional core task during maize planting as a problem context. We applied a 3‐week randomized (control group pretest posttest) design and single‐blind field experiment to test the impact of CCBT through provision of a training to two comparable farmer groups using conventional ‘Low‐CBT’ and innovative ‘High‐CBT’ implementation levels. The samples included ‘High‐CBT’ (N = 220) and ‘Low‐CBT’ (N = 220) groups of smallholder farmers in the West Gojjam Zone in Ethiopia. Data on competence development and performance improvement of farmers were collected from themselves, trainer Development Agents and Trained Assessors. The yield in quintal/hectare gains for each smallholder farmer was collected twice (before and after the intervention). Repeated (pretest, posttest) MANOVA and ANOVA measurements were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that the development of smallholder farmer competence in ‘High‐CBT’ was higher than in ‘Low‐CBT’ training. Comparisons of performance in both the authentic job situation and in terms of yield in quintal/hectare gains in the two groups revealed a better performance of both groups. However, the ‘High‐CBT’ group performed better than the ‘Low‐CBT’ group in both the authentic job situation and in terms of yield in quintal/hectare gains. We obtained 31 and 41 quintal/hectares of maize for the ‘Low‐CBT’ and ‘High‐CBT’ groups, respectively, which are better than the baseline average 22 quintal/hectare for both groups. These findings underscore the relevance of CCBT, especially when the design principles of CBE are integrated well in the training programme (which was called ‘High‐CBT level’), for improving performance, in this case gain in yield per hectare of smallholder farmers, which potentially results in the increase of household food security.

Towards sustainable aquaculture: Assessing polychaete meal (Alitta virens) as an effective fishmeal alternative in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) diets

In recent years, the pursuit of sustainable aquaculture practices has focused on alternatives to fisheries-derived ingredients, to avoid economic and environmental unsustainability. Low-trophic organisms, such as polychaetes, could be a suitable alternative to fishmeal due to their high protein content. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of replacing fishmeal with the polychaete meal (Alitta virens; PM) in diets for European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax; Wi, ∼14.5 g). Four isoproteic (51% dry matter, DM) and isolipidic (17% DM) diets were fed to seabass juveniles: a fishmeal-based diet (FM) and three experimental diets with PM at inclusion levels of 2.5% (PM2.5), 5% (PM5), and 10% (PM10), replacing 10%, 20% and 40% of fishmeal, respectively. After 93 days of feeding, the effects of the PM on growth, digestibility, nutrient utilization, plasma metabolites, liver lipogenic activity, and anterior intestine histomorphology were analyzed. The environmental impact of all diets was also assessed. All diets were well-accepted by the fish, and promoted equal growth performance, ensuring high feed efficiency. The muscle EPA + DHA content in all dietary groups exceeded the recommended levels for human consumption. Hepatic lipogenesis and plasma triglyceride and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) levels were increased in fish fed PM2.5, suggesting that the PM promoted alterations in lipid metabolism, especially at low inclusion levels. PM2.5 also seemed to enhance the absorption capacity of the anterior intestine by increasing villus length and goblet cells number/area, albeit without impacting nutrient digestibility and growth performance. Furthermore, copper digestibility increased with higher levels of PM inclusion. The assessment of environmental sustainability indicated that the experimental diets incorporating PM present a more sustainable option compared to fishmeal. Overall, this study demonstrated that PM can serve as a sustainable alternative to fishmeal, replacing it by up to 40%, without compromising European seabass growth and nutrient utilization, while guaranteeing a high nutritional quality fillet for human consumption. The best environmental performance could be achieved with a diet comprising 5% to 10% (w/w) PM content. However, further research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms of PM's effects on intermediary metabolism and its potential as a functional ingredient.

Judicial Approach Towards Environmental Sustainability for Youth in India: An Analysis

Environmental sustainability has been the issue for a number of decades at the global and national level. A lot of efforts have been made at the various level Governments in the world. The Indian Government, especially Indian judicial organ has also contributed a lot in this direction. In fact, in India, environmental law is basically emerged out of provisions of the Constitution i.e., fundamental right to live in pollution free environment, directive principles and fundamental duties under Article 21, Article 48-A and Article 51-A (g) respectively. However, still the pollution has been increasing with great pace. The objective of the paper is to emphasize upon the efforts made by the judiciary and to be made by the general public especially youth in India as it is only the youth who is going to suffer in future due to the environmental un-sustainability. In order to achieve this objective, various statutory enactments at the global and national level along with landmark judgements and contributory work of the eminent jurists have been analyzed deeply. Finally, it has been concluded that without the participation of the youth in this direction, this menace is very difficult to be curbed. The Government need to support the youth by creating awareness amongst the youth along with properly monitoring the implementation of the legal statutory provisions for the wholesome realization of the human right to environmental sustainability.

After Mobuoy: co-designing environmental governance in Northern Ireland?

ABSTRACT After the discovery of the Mobuoy illegal dump in Derry, known to the public as one of the largest illegal dumpsites in Europe, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency adopted a so-called ‘co-design’ approach to the remediation of the contaminated site. As part of it, the Mobuoy Stakeholder Group was established so that local communities could represent their concerns and give feedback to the government’s remediation project. Based on semi-structured interviews and policy analysis, this article examined the level of inclusiveness and representativeness of the Mobuoy Stakeholder Group by looking into the decision-making processes over two divisive agendas on the remediation project. This article concluded that a so-called ‘co-design’ approach to remediating the Mobuoy site was significantly misleading. The Mobuoy illegal dumpsite is an alarming case of environmental unsustainability in Northern Ireland, not only because of its massive scale, but also because of the government’s closed and siloed approach to environmental governance. Through a lens of agonistic participation, this article argued that for co-design approaches to environmental governance to function as intended, power inequalities among participants, particularly the government and ordinary citizens, in environmental governance should be taken into consideration seriously.

Towards environmental sustainability: nexus of ecological footprint, human capital, economic growth and energy consumption in India

PurposeThe research is geared towards studying the impact of “GDP per capita (GDP)”, “energy consumption (EC)”, “human capital (HC)” and “trade openness (TO)” on India's ecological footprint (EF) from 1997–1998 to 2019–2020.Design/methodology/approachThe autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) bound test was used to look at the short-run and long-term coefficients and the cointegration of the variables.FindingsThe results depicted a long-run connection between the variables. The long-run results found a favourable relationship between GDP, EC and EF, indicating that economic growth through heavy reliance on fossil fuels contributes to environmental unsustainability. An inverse relationship between HC, TO and EF was also observed, indicating that education fosters pro-environmental behaviour and leads to adopting cleaner technology that contributes to environmental sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsThe research substantiates India's pressing requirement for sustainable development, ensuring a harmonious balance between economic performance and environmental preservation. A carefully designed policy needs to be formulated to mitigate emissions stemming from growth in India. Policymakers are urged to implement measures that promote ecologically friendly tools, utilities and transportation to curb long-term environmental degradation.Originality/valueThe study is novel, incorporating an exhaustive review using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). This study further examines how India's EF is affected by its HC; the preceding literature has yet to discuss much about the connection between HC and the environment. Finally, the study employed advanced econometric techniques, namely the cointegration technique and ARDL model, to find the relationship between EF, GDP, HC, EC and TO.

Digital economy, resource richness, external conflicts, and ecological footprint: Evidence from emerging countries

The overexploitation and unsustainable utilization of important natural resources owing to economic progress have accelerated the negative externalities of overwhelming consumption leading to massive increases in ecological footprint. In addition, the situation of increasing conflicts poses severe challenges, such as energy insecurity, increased fossil fuel use, and environmental unsustainability. However, the transformation of energy systems and economic processes by stimulating clean energy utilization and supporting the process of digitalization may influence resource usage and environmental footprints. Accordingly, this study investigates the impact of natural resources, digital economy and clean energy on ecological footprint in emerging countries from 2003 to 2018 by including external conflicts in the model. The Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) method is employed which produces panel estimates robust to cross-sectional dependence (CSD) and slope heterogeneity. The empirical results indicate that natural resources expand footprints in emerging economies and pose serious threats to ecological quality. However, the digital economy and clean energy help to reduce ecological footprint. In addition, decreasing conflicts curtail ecological footprint while economic progress worsens environmental quality. Based on these estimates, comprehensive policies for energy transition, sustainable natural resource use, and digitalization are directed to support environmental quality.

Gen Xers: Perceived barriers and motivators to fashion renting from the Indian cultural context

AbstractRecently, the thought processes of consumers are evolving universally, making them reflective of the detrimental ecological footprints owing to excessive fashion consumption at a personal level. Consequently, they are increasingly thinking about accessing alternative, sustainable modes of consuming fashion. Furthermore, this transition is being witnessed across the generations and is not confined to any one generation. The current study pertains to the recent shift of “Generation X" towards fashion rentals. However, Gen X is considered less experimental, more conservative, and therefore less lucrative. To this end, the current study explores the barriers to Gen X's adoption of fashion rental and suggests motivations to promote it. It employs an interpretive qualitative research paradigm, obtains data from 32 Gen X fashion consumers via semi‐structured interviews, analyses the data using thematic analysis, and uses the theory of psychological ownership and the Hofstede cultural dimensions as an underpinning framework. Results indicate the emergence of six themes representing barriers, including loss of efficacy and effectance, loss of self‐identity and extended self, temporariness, environmental unsustainability, personal hygiene behaviour, and lifestyle. Similarly, motivations included three themes: long‐term subscriptions; transparency and assurances; and personalisation and storytelling. This implies that fashion rental firms need to embrace transparency and empower consumers through co‐creation, long‐term rental subscriptions, and the possibilities of possession. Further, the paper contributes to the identification of new dimensions, including a lack of nostalgia, risk avoidance, personal hygiene, an absence of personalisation, a dearth of education, emotional detachment, and voluntary simplicity in lifestyle. It also suggests future research.

Nexus of financial management, blockchain, and natural resources: Comparing the impact on environmental sustainability and resource productivity

In recent years, with a rise in climate change, the notion of sustainable development and resource productivity has received a lot of attention around the world. Meanwhile, advances in artificial intelligence based financial management and the creation of new blockchains or cryptocurrencies have transformed the day-to-day operations of economic actors. The aim of the present study is to investigate the impact of financial management and blockchains on environmental sustainability and resource productivity. The monthly time series data of the United States of America economy data is used covering the period from 2000M01–2022M09. Firstly, the stationary variable is tested using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller and Phillips-Perron tests. The findings reveal that all the variables follow I(1). The long-term estimations are investigated through the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares. The findings reveal that artificial intelligence-based financial management helps to improve environmental sustainability and resource productivity by reducing carbon emissions and increasing combustible and renewable waste, metals, and non-metallic minerals resources in the long run. In addition, blockchain technology appears to be a booster for environmental unsustainability while also reducing metallic resources. These findings are particularly important and critical since they indicate the path to achieving Sustainable Development Goals. Overall, the findings imply that the United States of America authorities should continue to push AI-based sustainability models and move to green blockchains in order to mitigate the negative environmental effects of blockchains.